The Going Ministry  ·  Hidden Trauma & Healing

Our
Unseen
Scars

The wound nobody can see is the one that runs deepest.

You look fine. You function. You show up. But something happened — maybe years ago, maybe last week — that changed the shape of everything since.

You have never talked about it. Maybe you don't even have words for it yet. That's exactly where this starts.

You are not broken. You are carrying something heavy.
You don't have to explain yourself to be heard here.
There is a name for what you're carrying. And there is a way through it.
Hidden Trauma

The scar nobody
sees is the one that
controls everything.

Hidden trauma is not weakness. It is the result of surviving something your nervous system wasn't built to process alone. Abuse. Neglect. Violence. Loss. Shame. Betrayal. The body keeps the score even when the mind tries to move on.

Our Unseen Scars is not a therapy program. It is not a support group with a clipboard and name tags. It is a ministry — which means it starts with the belief that you were made for more than survival mode.

"You don't have to have it together to walk through this door. The door is for the ones who don't."

— Eric Schwalbach, 30-year classroom teacher and street minister. He has sat across from people carrying exactly what you're carrying. He is not afraid of it.

What We Carry

You might recognize
yourself in one of these.

Childhood Wounds
What happened in the house you grew up in didn't stay there. It followed you into every relationship, every reaction, every moment you can't explain.

"It was a long time ago." Doesn't mean it's over.

The Thing Nobody Knows
There is something you have never told anyone. Not because there are no words. Because you have never trusted that the room would be safe enough to say them in.

This room can be that safe.

The Person in the Mirror
You function. You perform. You show up. But somewhere along the way you lost the thread back to who you actually are. You perform a version of yourself while the real one hides.

You are still in there.

The Pattern That Keeps Repeating
Same relationship. Same blow-up. Same self-sabotage. Same moment where you watch yourself do the thing you swore you'd never do again. Patterns this deep have roots.

Roots can be pulled.

Grief Nobody Validated
Loss of a person. Loss of a version of yourself. Loss of what you thought your life would be. Grief that nobody acknowledged because nobody knew it was happening.

Your grief is real.

The 10% Calling

Healing is not a program.
It is a direction.

The Going Ministry doesn't ask you to give everything at once. The 10% Calling is the framework — a starting point built on Time, Money, Talent, and Skill. You begin with what you have.

Time
10% of your time invested in your own healing and in the healing of someone else. You cannot pour from an empty vessel — but you have more than you think.
Money
Financial giving is not the point here. The 10% principle of money is about stewardship — recognizing that what you have came from somewhere and is going somewhere.
Talent
The thing you are naturally good at is not an accident. It is part of how you are built to contribute. Even from a place of brokenness — especially from a place of brokenness.
Skill
Skills are built. What you have learned to do — even in surviving — is transferable. Someone behind you on the same road needs what you learned the hard way.
The Man Holding the Door

He has sat across from
exactly what you're carrying.

Eric Schwalbach has been a classroom teacher in Central Florida for thirty years. He has been in the streets, recovery rooms, prisons, and locker rooms for just as long. He is not afraid of the hard thing. He has heard versions of your story before — and he did not look away.

"The wound doesn't disqualify you. In this ministry, it's often the first thing that qualifies you."

Our Unseen Scars is not run by people who have it all together. It is run by someone who has watched God do the thing that professionals said couldn't be done — again and again.

"Christ didn't wait for the wounded to clean themselves up before He touched them. Neither do we."

Eric Schwalbach · Teacher · Street Minister · School Board Candidate, Lake County District 1 · Central Florida

You Don't Have to Explain Everything

Just say
"I need to talk."

No intake forms. No diagnosis required. No minimum level of crisis. If something on this page resonated — that's enough of a reason to reach out. Eric will respond.